The impact of co-morbidity on life expectancy among men with localized prostate cancer

Purpose: We evaluated 3 indexes used to assess patient co-morbidities to determine whether they could predict mortality among men with clinically localized prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: We measured the impact of co-morbidity classifications on all cause mortality using a parametric proportional hazards model based on a retrospective cohort analysis. Results: Each index tested is a highly significant predictor of mortality for patients dying of nonprostate cancer related causes after adjusting for age and Gleason score. Conclusions: Each co-morbidity index provides significant, independent predictive information concerning patient mortality beyond that provided by age, Gleason score and clinical stage alone.